We use rubbertex insulation, sheets on tanks, and rubbetex piping insulation on the piping mitered joints, use contact cement to join it then cover it with this
Water Tanks -- Anyone have experience with large (500+ gallon) tanks?
- Thread starter Tacitus
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Smallest steel tank I'm familiar with is 50,000 gallon water tower. Inside of tank was drained and cleaned every ten years to weld interior pits in the metal and reapply a grease coating to prevent the stored water from rusting through the tank.
Me thinks plastic tanks would be the way to go for home storage.
Me thinks plastic tanks would be the way to go for home storage.
as long as you keep the uv rays away from it your a ok
Some birds, ravens for example, love to peck the foam. This can be a problem. One answer is to paint the top, where they land, with bed liner, IF it becomes a problem. I've seen it where one tank looks like there was an attack of small mortars and nobody else on the street had a problem.
The foam is to prevent rust. If you bury the tank you don't need insulation. If you bury a plastic tank you don't need the foam.
Using a siphon to take water from the bottom of the tank to the top of the tank won't work. The outlet of the siphon has to be below the water level. If you have a way to get water to flow above the level in the tank you need to put it on the internet and patent it right away.
Using a siphon to take water from the bottom of the tank to the top of the tank won't work. The outlet of the siphon has to be below the water level. If you have a way to get water to flow above the level in the tank you need to put it on the internet and patent it right away.
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I'll second the consideration for using IBC totes. You can get them in 250, 275 or 330 gallon sizes. They're stackable & can be moved if needed using a decent pallet jack. They have a valve on the bottom which can easily be stepped down to a garden hose size (or just siphon from the top).
Can be purchased in "food grade".
Around me, they sell for about $100 (normally used one time) or about the same price for a new one but the cage may have some damage.
Can be purchased in "food grade".
Around me, they sell for about $100 (normally used one time) or about the same price for a new one but the cage may have some damage.
I'd like 6 of the largest please... I'd just connect them to the well and circulate the water through them. It makes for about a year of water rations for 4 people. Of course the well kind of makes it redundant but maybe both pumps go out at the same time. That gives me a year to get the repairs made... 
Actually, a lot depends on where you live. The insulation helps keep the water from freezing. Yes, you do need to insulate plastic, or have a substantial heat source. In some places the frost line is one or two feet. At my last home the frost line was from 40' to 400'. In the summer it would thaw up to 2'. For refrigeration when camping you would dig a hole till you met permafrost, place your food in the hole, and lay a piece of plywood over it.
Steel rusts underground.
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I like this guy, he covers a lot, but does not go to deep, just high lights mistakes.
I harvest rainwater for domestic use, not agricultural. No mosquito dunks or fish poop for me thank you very much. We used an above ground swimming pool for several years without algae. Perhaps five of us showering, flushing, and cooking went through it fast enough. Generally our tanks were covered. The again our tanks get a small amount of bleach each year or three.
IBC totes are handy and available most places. The one down side is the sun will rot them out quickly. Painting them ASAP helps a lot.
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Thought he said he'll be putting them in a garage (no sun). I have 10 filled with water that never saw sun. Water is as pure as current faucet water.
